Cape Town - Winter has struck with a vengeance in the Western Cape with some towns recording their first snow falls in almost 20 years.

Several mountain passes in the Southern Cape and the Eastern Cape had to be closed after heavy snowfalls.

Tourists expecting sunny skies in Cape Town were greeted by snow on Table Mountain, where the temperature never rose above 1°C.

It was the heaviest snowfall on the mountain since 2003.

"If I hear 'south' I think 'warm'," said Michail Podlatsjof from Russia. "All I brought with me are shorts and T-shirts."

Mountains elsewhere in the Western Cape and high lying areas were covered in snow.

A forecaster at the SA Weather Service, Lynette van Schalkwyk, said in Cape Town it would remain cold in the Western Cape on Wednesday, but no more snow was expected. She said berg winds were expected to set in on Thursday.

The higher temperatures made it impossible to forecast if there will still be snow at the weekend for sightseers.